Safety closure for containers



April 12, 1966 A. A. TUURI 3,245,563

SAFETY CLOSURE FOR CONTAINERS Filed Aug. 5, 1964 F|G.2 4 F'IG.5 I7 19 I6 IS A, \\\\\3\ l4 \A: 9; 9 E -Egg 6 INVENTOR. ARMAS A. TLJLJR I BY W ZMMM M W A T TO/PNEVS United States Patent 3,245,563 SAFETY CLOSURE FOR CONTAINERS Armas A. Tuuri, Mount Morris, Mich, assignor to Arton Industries, Inc., Flint, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Filed Aug. 3, 1964, Ser. No. 386,978 11 Claims. (Cl. 2159) This invention relates to container closures and more particularly to a closure for containers of medicinal and other goods which could be injurious to persons who in advertently or unknowingly ingest them.

All too frequently it is reported that a child has obtained access to a container of medicine or other potentially harmful product and has consumed or otherwise handled the contents in such manner as to cause the death of or serious injury to the child. It also is not uncommon to read reports of adults who open one container under the mistaken impression that it contains a harmless product, consume the contents, and subsequently are seriously stricken or suffer death as a result of consuming poisonous substances.

An object of this invention is to provide a safety closure for containers and which will eliminate or greatly minimize the risk that a child may gain access to the contents of the container, but which is readily manipulatable by an adult to effect rapid access to the contents of the container when desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide a container closure of the kind referred to and which necessi tates ones paying attention to the removal of the closure from the container, thereby minimizing the risk that one container mistakenly will be confused with another.

A further object of the invention is to provide a safety closure of the character described which readily lends itself to mass production techniques, is economical to manufacture and simple to assemble.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out specifically or will become apparent from the following description when it is considered in conjunction with the appended claims and the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary, sectional view of a clos we constructed in accordance with the invention and applied to a container, the closure being illustrated in such condition that it cannot be removed from the container, the section being taken on the line 1-1 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1, but illustrating the closure in condition for removal from the container;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary, side elevational view of the closure in the condition shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 55 of FIGURE 1.

Apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention is adapted for use in conjunction with a metal, glass, or so-called plastic bottle or other container 1 having an upstanding neck 2 that is externally threaded as at 3. The neck 2 is open at its free end so as to permit the contents of the container to be dispensed, but the neck is adapted to be closed by a safety closure designated generally by the reference character 4.

The closure 4 comprises a generally cylindrical inner cap member 5 that is open at one end and closed at its other end by a wall 7. The inner surface of the annular wall 6 may be threaded as at 8 to correspond to the threads of the neck 2. Rotatably enclosing and axially slideable on the wall 6 of the cap member 5 is a sleeve member 9 having an annular wall 10 terminating at one end in a radially in-turned flange 11 and at its other end Patented Apr. 12, 1966 in a radially out-turned flange 12. The flange 11 overlies the free end of the wall 6 of the cap member 5, and the length of the wall 10 is such that the upper surfaces of the walls 7 and 12 may lie in substantially the same plane.

The closure 4 also includes an outer, generally cylindrical cap member 13 having an annular wall 14 terminating at one endin a radially in-turned flange 15 and at the other end in a wall 16. The outer cap member 13 rotatably encloses and is axially slideable on the sleeve member 9.

The material from which the members 5, 9 and 13 are made preferably is a moldable, so-called plastic material having dimensional stability and suflicient flexibility as to enable the flange 15 to be snapped over the flange 12 of the sleeve 10. One material which is well suited to the construction is polyethylene, but many other well known synthetic materials may be used.

The apparatus includes engageable and disengageable clutch means 11 for selectively enabling and disabling removal of the closure 4 from the container. As is best illustrated in FIGURE 4, the outer surface of the wall 7 of the inner cap member 5 is provided with a plurality of substantially radially extending slots or grooves 17, forming part of the clutch means, and which are irregularly spaced from one another. The upper surface of the flange 12 of the sleeve member 9 is provided with a corresponding number of radially extending clutch grooves or slots 18, the spacing of the slots 18 corresponding to the spacing of the grooves 17 so as to enable the grooves 17 and 18 to be aligned with each other in one position of relative rotary adjustment of the members 5 and 9. As is best shown in FIGURE 5, the inner surface of the wall 16 of the outer cap 13 is provided with a plurality of radial clutch projections 19 which extend toward the grooves 17 and 18 and correspond in number and spacing to the number and spacing of the grooves.

The axial thickness of the flanges 12 and 15 and the length of the wall 14 of the outer cap are such that the latter is capable of axial sliding movement on the sleeve member 9 a distance suflicient to enable the projections 19 to be moved from a level to be accommodated in the grooves 17 and 18 to a projected position remote from the grooves. Moreover, the cap member 13 is slideable to such an extent relative to the sleeve member 9 as to be able to expose a suflicient length of the wall 10 to permit a persons fingers to grasp the wall and rotate the sleeve member relatively to the inner cap 5.

The sleeve 9, as has been pointed out, is axially slideable on the cap member 5, but always precludes access to the latter when in use. When the parts of the closure 4 are assembled, the interengagement of the flanges 12 and 15 precludes inadvertent separation of the member 9 from the other parts of the closure. When the closure is assembled on the container, the engagement of the flange 11 with the body of the container maintains the flange 12 at the level of the wall 7.

When the apparatus is in use, the inner cap 5 will be in threaded engagement on the neck 2 of the container, the intermediate sleeve 9 will be in some indeterminate position of angular adjustment relative to the cap 5, and the outer cap 13 will be in such position that the projections 19 are free of the grooves 17 and 18 and are in some indeterminate position of angular adjustment relative thereto. In order to effect removal of the closure from the container 1, it is necessary that the grooves 17 be radially aligned with their companion grooves 18. This may be accomplished by raising the outer cap 13 a distance sufficient to enable manipulation of the sleeve 9. In order to determine when the grooves 17 are axially aligned with the grooves 18, an aligning mark or line 20 on the outer surface of the sleeve 9 may be aligned with a reference mark 21 provided on the wall of the container 1. Following alignment of the grooves 17 and 18, the outer cap 13 may be rotated to align the projections 19 with the grooves 17 and 18. This may be facilitated by use of a reference line 22 on the outer surface of the wall 14 and which, when aligned with the indicia and 21, will indicate that the projections 19 are in position to be received in the recesses 17 and 18.

Following alignment of the grooves and projections, the outer cap member 13 may be shifted axially to cause the projections 19 to enter the grooves 17 and 18. In these positions of the parts, rotation of the outer cap 13 may be imparted to each of the members 5 and 9 so as to unscrew the closure from the container 1, whereupon the contents thereof may be dispensed.

Preferably, the members 5, 9 and 13 have a friction fit with one another so as to minimize the possibility that the alignment of the projections and grooves will be lost when the closure is removed from the container. The force required to effect relative movement of the several parts, however, should be fairly light.

To replace the closure on the container, it is only necessary to screw the assembled parts onto the neck 2. When the closure is securely in place, the outer cap 13 may be moved in a direction to remove the projections 19 from the grooves 17 and 18, whereupon the members 5, 9 and 13 may be rotated relatively to one another so as to misalign the grooves and projections.

The disclosed embodiment is representative of a presently preferred form of the invention but is intended to be illustrative rather than definitive thereof. The invention is defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. A safety closure for containers, said closure comprising an inner cap member; an intermediate sleeve member axially slideable on and rotatably enclosing said inner member; an outer cap member axially slideable on and rotatably enclosing said intermediate member; means on said members for limiting relative sliding movement therebetween; and engageable and disengageable clutch means on said members operable respectively to disable and enable relative rotation of said members.

2. The construction set forth in claim 1 wherein said engageable and disengageable means comprises grooves in two of said members and projecting means on the other of said members capable of fitting into said grooves.

3. The construction set forth in claim 2 wherein the grooves are formed in said intermediate member and in one of the other of said members.

4. The construction set forth in claim 2 wherein the grooves are formed in said intermediate member and in said inner member.

5. The construction set forth in claim 2 wherein said grooves are so arranged with respect to one another that said projecting means may enter said grooves in but a single relative rotary position of said members.

6. A safety closure for containers, said closure comprising an inner cap member; a sleeve member rotatably enclosing and axially slideable on said inner cap member; an outer cap member rotatably enclosing and axially slideable on said sleeve member; and a number of projections on said outer cap member extending toward the other members and being irregularly spaced from one another, said inner cap member and said sleeve member each having a corresponding plurality of grooves therein spaced apart a distance corresponding to the spacing of said projections and adapted to receive the latter therein in one position of rotary adjustment of all of said members, said outer cap member being axially slideable relatively to said inner cap member and to said sleeve member a distance sufiicient to enable said projections selectively to be received in and removed from said grooves and to permit access to said sleeve member to enable rotation of the latter.

7. The construction set forth in claim 6 including cooperable means on said sleeve member and said outer cap member for limiting relative axial sliding movement thereof in one direction.

8. A safety closure for a container comprising an inner cap member having an open end and a closed end; an annular sleeve member mounted on said inner cap member for rotation relative thereto; an outer cap member having an open end and a closed end and mounted on said sleeve member for rotary and axial sliding movements relative thereto, said closed end of said inner cap member and the adjacent end of said sleeve member each having at least one groove therein adapted to be radially aligned with one another; and at least one projection on the closed end of said outer cap member and being of such radial length as to be accommodated in the groove of each of said inner cap and sleeve members when said groove are radially aligned, said outer cap member being axially slideable on said sleeve member a distance sufiicient to permit said projection to be received in and removed from said grooves.

9. The construction set forth in claim 8 wherein each of said inner cap and sleeve members has a plurality of irregularly spaced grooves therein and wherein said outer cap has a corresponding plurality of correspondingly spaced projections thereon.

10. A safety closure for containers, said closure comprising an inner cap member closed at one end; a sleeve member rotatably enclosing said inner cap member; an outer cap member closed at one end and rotatably enclosing said sleeve member, the closed ends of said inner and outer cap members lying adjacent one another and one end of said sleeve member terminating substantially at the level of the closed end of said inner cap member; and engageable .and disengageable clutch means on each of said members operable respectively to disable and enable relative rotation of said members, said clutch means comprising one part on one of said cap members disengageable and engageable with a part on each of said sleeve member and the other cap member, said clutch means being engageable in but one relative rotary position of adjustment of said members.

11. The construction set forth in claim 10 wherein said one part comprises a projection on said outer cap members and a groove in each of said sleeve member and the inner cap member into which said projection may be fitted.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner. 

1. A SAFETY CLOSURE FOR CONTAINERS, SAID CLOSURE COMPRISING AN INNER CAP MEMBER; AN INTERMEDIATE SLEEVE MEMBER AXIALLY SLIDABLE ON AND ROTATABLY ENCLOSING SAID INNER MEMBER; AN OUTER CAP MEMBER AXIALLY SLIDEABLE ON AND ROTATABLY ENCLOSING SAID INTERMEDIATE MEMBER; MEANS ON SAID MEMBERS FOR LIMITING RELATIVE SLIDING MOVEMENT THEREBETWEEN; AND ENGAGEABLE AND DISENGAGEABLE CLUTCH MEANS ON SAID MEMBERS OPERABLE RESPECTIVELY TO DISABLE AND ENABLE RELATIVE ROTATION OF SAID MEMBERS. 